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Research Article

Recent unprecedented tree-ring growth in bristlecone pine at the highest elevations and possible causes

Matthew W. Salzer, Malcolm K. Hughes, Andrew G. Bunn, and Kurt F. Kipfmueller
PNAS December 1, 2009 106 (48) 20348-20353; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0903029106
Matthew W. Salzer
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  • For correspondence: msalzer@ltrr.arizona.edu
Malcolm K. Hughes
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Andrew G. Bunn
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Kurt F. Kipfmueller
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  1. Edited by Harold A. Mooney, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, and approved September 28, 2009 (received for review March 19, 2009)

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Abstract

Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) at 3 sites in western North America near the upper elevation limit of tree growth showed ring growth in the second half of the 20th century that was greater than during any other 50-year period in the last 3,700 years. The accelerated growth is suggestive of an environmental change unprecedented in millennia. The high growth is not overestimated because of standardization techniques, and it is unlikely that it is a result of a change in tree growth form or that it is predominantly caused by CO2 fertilization. The growth surge has occurred only in a limited elevational band within ≈150 m of upper treeline, regardless of treeline elevation. Both an independent proxy record of temperature and high-elevation meteorological temperature data are positively and significantly correlated with upper-treeline ring width both before and during the high-growth interval. Increasing temperature at high elevations is likely a prominent factor in the modern unprecedented level of growth for Pinus longaeva at these sites.

  • climate change
  • dendrochronology
  • Great Basin
  • tree rings
  • treeline

Footnotes

  • 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: msalzer{at}ltrr.arizona.edu
  • Author contributions : M.W.S. and M.K.H. designed research; M.W.S., M.K.H., and A.G.B. performed research; M.W.S., M.K.H., A.G.B., and K.F.K. analyzed data; and M.W.S., M.K.H., A.G.B., and K.F.K. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • Data deposition: The data reported in this paper are available online at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/treering.html or http://www.ltrr.arizona.edu/pub/salzer_et_al_2009/.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0903029106/DCSupplemental.

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Recent unprecedented tree-ring growth in bristlecone pine at the highest elevations and possible causes
Matthew W. Salzer, Malcolm K. Hughes, Andrew G. Bunn, Kurt F. Kipfmueller
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec 2009, 106 (48) 20348-20353; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0903029106

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Recent unprecedented tree-ring growth in bristlecone pine at the highest elevations and possible causes
Matthew W. Salzer, Malcolm K. Hughes, Andrew G. Bunn, Kurt F. Kipfmueller
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec 2009, 106 (48) 20348-20353; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0903029106
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 106 (48)
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